Comb.



' O. 757,042. PATENTED APR. 12, 1904.

N. D. INGRAM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 21, 1903. N0 MODEL.

WITNEISSES: in INVENTOR ATTORNEYS m: Nonms PEYERS cu, worm mm.wnsnmarou, a. c:

UNITED STATES Patented April 12, 1904.

NATHAN D. INGRAM, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,042, dated April12, 1904. Application filed September 21, 1903. Serial No. 173,958- (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NATHAN D. INGRAM, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York city, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combs,of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is the production of amore eflicient combthan is now commonly in use. The advantages of my invention are numerousand will be referred to later.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a side view of my improved comb; Fig. 2, a section thereofalong line 22 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

For the purpose of illustration the draw:

ings are shown as representing an exaggerated form of my invention forthe purpose of clearness-that is, the comb is drawn broader and theteeth larger than is the case in an actual comb; but the dimensions ofthe article may be varied according to the desire of the manufacturer.

I have found in the use of an ordinary comb that in many cases theindividual hairs pass between the teeth without being effectively actedupon by the comb, and to obviate this difficulty I set the teeth of mycomb with their side surfaces arranged obliquely to the face of thecomb, as shown in the drawings, so that all of the hair which passesthrough the comb is subjected to a certain strain, which effectivelyscrapes the hair and removes from it all dust or extraneous particles.Thus in the drawings, 1 represents the comb itself as a whole, which istapered from the back to the points of the teeth (see Fig. 3) and whichin appearance does not differ from the combs usually used to the eye ofthe ordinary observer.

2 represents the teeth of the comb out at an angle to the narrow side 4of the back, and 3 illustrates the hair as affected by the comb. Theside surfaces 2 of the teeth are disposed obliquely to the face of thecomb. By the face of the comb I mean either one of the surfacesextending from the back of the comb to the points of the teeth. It willbe observed that by this method of sawing the teeth they obtain theshape of a diamond in section and that the more acute angles of thesediamonds exercising a certain degree of tension on the hair cause it tobe scraped and cleansed thoroughly as the comb passes through the hair.It is obvious that the teeth may be set at varying distances from eachother or at varying angles, so that the acute angle of one diamond moreor less overlaps the acute angle of the next diamond at the other sideof the comb.

-I also find that these combs of my invention are more readily cleansedthan the ordinary combs, because of the free access which the bristlesof the brush or other cleaning medium have to a certain portion of thefaces of the diamonds. The remaining portions of the faces of thediamonds which are not reached by the bristles of the brush inserted atright angles to the side of the comb are cleansed thoroughly, becausethe bristles are there distorted, causing them to exert a greater degreeof friction on the diamond-faces. I have also found that my invention isof great use in side-combs by reason of the fact that when theyact inthis capacity the comb is anchored, as it were, and the more it tends toslide on the hair the greater the tension of the hair at the twoopposite acute angles of the diamond. In such side-combs, as well asother forms of comb, I occasionally saw one half of the comb at theangle shown, for. instance, in Fig. 2 up to the center thereof. Theother half of the comb I then saw with teeth at corresponding angles,but turned the other way. Then one half of the comb would have its teethturning to the left and the other half to. the right, with an open spaceor a triangular tooth at the center.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to surfaces arranged obliquelyto the face of the I secure by Letters Patent, iscomb. Y 1. A combcomprising a series of teeth hav- In testimony whereof I-have hereuntoset my ing sides arranged obliquely to the face of the hand in thepresence of two subscribing Wit- 5 comb. nesses.

2. A comb comprising a series of teeth Whose NATHAN D. INGRAM.cross-sections are parallelograms other than Witnesses: rectangles.HENRY M. TURK,

3. A comb having teeth with parallel side JOHN LOTKA.

